Inside the Evolution of Superman's Look

Costume designer Michael Wilkinson on the changes for Batman vs. Superman, and why it's all about the crotch, apparently

You may not realize it, but costume designer Michael Wilkinson is responsible for the way many of pop culture's icons appear in film. The Australian designer, who was recently nominated for an Oscar for his work on American Hustle, created the looks in Watchmen, TRON: Legacy, 300, and Terminator Salvation. Along with James Acheson, Wilkinson reimagined Superman and his cohorts for last year's Man of Steel, removing the superhero's red briefs and giving him a hardened, armored look that mirrored director Zack Snyder's vision for the character.

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Wilkinson appeared at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art recently as part of a series of events put on by the museum's Costume Council to discuss exactly what it takes to costume Superman. The process involved dozens of possible designs, 3-D models, specially printed fabrics, and augmented muscles to layer over actor Henry Cavill's already-massive arms. Wilkinson is adding to his superhero resume now: The designer was tasked with creating the suits for Batman and Wonder Woman for the upcoming (and yet untitled) Batman vs. Superman film. We spoke with Wilkinson prior to his talk about how exactly one designs a superhero's suit. As it turns out, the crotch is a pretty key part of the look.

ESQUIRE.COM: How much pressure was involved with being the guy who had to design the Superman suit?

MICHAEL WILKINSON: There was some pressure, although I have to preface it by saying that when the director Zack Snyder asked me to work on Man of Steel, I was already working on another project. So he started off with another costume designer, James Acheson, who developed the suit, and then I came in and finished the development and designed all the other costumes in the film. We were so thrilled to be able to contribute to the look of Superman in the 21st century. We wanted to create something that was relevant and made sense to contemporary audiences.

ESQ: So is James responsible for taking away Superman's red briefs?

MW: Yes! In the early stages of development James worked with some illustrators and I remember hearing stories of the red briefs getting smaller and smaller until one day they simply weren't there.

ESQ: Did you read a lot of the comics in preparation for Man of Steel?

MW: We spent lots of time just looking at the 75 years of how this character has been drawn and how he's been portrayed, both in film and on TV. But more importantly we really sunk our teeth into the mythology of Superman and what he means to the world, what he symbolizes, where he came from. A lot of the efforts we took in the film were to explain why the suit looks the way it does. We didn't want it to be a random, ornamental decision. We start the film on the planet of Krypton, which is where the suit comes from, and we go to great pains to show the suit fitting into the culture. All of the people you see on Krypton are wearing this chainmail-like suit, with the same detailing as the Superman suit. Everyone has their family crests on their chests. The cuff and the boot details are shared through all of the different characters we meet on Krypton. So by the time we see Superman in his suit we understand why it looks the way it looks.

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ESQ: What sort of measurements are involved in creating a superhero's suit?

MW: It's incredibly elaborate actually. We started the process by digitally scanning Henry Cavill. It's probably the most humiliating thing an actor can through. They have to get into their underwear, put a stocking cap over their head, and stand with their legs and arms apart and have this laser scan them from head to toe. You end up with a 3-D model of the actor in your computer that you can then measure from. We ended up outputting a lifesize model of Henry Cavill, which we started sculpting on.

ESQ:Where is that lifesize model now?

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MW: I'm not sure. I think there are quite a few of them.

ESQ:How do you navigate creating the crotch of a superhero suit?

MW: When you're designing superhero suits, it all comes down to the crotch. And if you're doing a female superhero, the bust. You have to present things in an appealing way but something that's not too confronting and has the right tone for the film. It's something where you have to use all of your costuming skills to find that balance. I think having done 300 I'm pretty much an expert on codpieces. I remember on that film we had five different shapes and we gave them all names. For example, we had "the spider." We had "the donkey." We had all different shapes for different fellows.

ESQ:Of all the male actors in Man of Steel, who had the biggest muscles?

MW: That's a very challenging question. We had some pretty impressive stunt guys. I must say Henry worked so hard. You saw the scene where he has his shirt off on the oil rig. He looks incredible. So I think Henry has to take that prize home.

ESQ: And now you're the guy in charge of Batman and Wonder Woman, right?

MW: Exactly.

ESQ: When will those suits be revealed?

MW: I'm not sure what Warner Brothers has planned for that. I know last time when we worked on Man of Steel we released an image of the Superman suit well before the movie was released. That gives us a chance to really control that shot, to light it and make it look exactly how we want it to look. I'm sure they're going to release them well before the film.

ESQ: So they are already designed?

MW: I designed them. I know what they look like. We're in the middle of fittings and camera tests and final tweaks at the moment.

Superman's first appearance in 1938 (above) and Henry Cavill in 2013's Man of Steel.

ESQ: How do you approach costuming a character like Wonder Woman who is very iconic but not really present in contemporary culture?

MW: I think there's a huge responsibility we all feel about Wonder Woman. She hasn't been on the big screen in a movie ever. She's been on TV, of course, with the legendary Linda Carter. She's been drawn a million different ways in graphic novels and comic books so we're really sinking ourselves into that culture and educating ourselves about her backstory and really thinking hard about a Wonder Woman who is contemporary and reverberates with modern audiences.

ESQ: And what about Batman?

MW: I talked a lot with Zack Snyder. He has such a great vision for this film, the cinematic universe that we're creating together with the production designer and the cinematographer. It has a logic to it. It's very tight. It's a very gritty, real, contemporary world. That's what I had in the back of my mind when I tried to think of a Batman that works for that universe.

MW: No, we're doing a few tweaks to the Superman suit. We want to make sure, again, that it's updated and feels fresh and right for this installment of Zack Snyder's comic-book universe.

ESQ:How many suits do you have to make for each character?

MW: It's different for each character, but I think for the Superman suit we had about 18 of them for Man of Steel. There are also some stunt scenarios you have to get ready for. Let alone the wear and tear of a four-month shoot. You have to be ready for anything.

ESQ: You've now worked with so many huge characters, but who is your favorite superhero?

MW: It sounds dorky saying it, but I think it has to be Superman. He was the first. He's the original. He's the guy all the other superheroes are trying to be. There's a purity about him. There's a morality there that's so watertight. I'll go with the best.